This post gets a little story and a departure from my usual style.When I was little, my mom used to buy these 3D puzzles and paper models of Gothic cathedrals and spend hours putting them together.I thought they were pretty enough but for the most part wasn’t terribly interested.Except for one thing.I thought flying buttresses were so cool.* The use of pointed arches allowed 11th and 12th century (already widely used in the Arab world) allowed European architects to build their churches somewhat taller, but until the invention of the flying buttress, there was only so high they could go. Where rounded arches direct much of the weight resting on them outward, pointed arches send more of that force downward.As a result, they can be made taller without making the base any wider.

Now imagine a significant amount of weigh pressing down on each of these arches. You can sort of see how the pointed arch directs the force more down than out, at least in comparison to the rounded arch.[Rounded Arch and Equilateral Pointed Arch, 2005, drawn by Mats Halldin, source: Wikimedia Commons (here and here)]

Stone ceilings are really heavy though and even a pointed arch will direct some of that force outwards.Build too high and the top part of the wall will push out, collapsing the whole structure.Simple buttresses helped counter some of that.A basic buttress is a pillar of stone built against a wall to provide support.

There's a flyer hiding behind the wall, but there's also a smaller, simple buttress on the right here.[Westminster Cathedral, photographed by Tagishsimon, 19th century, source: Wikimedia Commons]

A regular buttress works to a certain extent, but what really allowed medieval architects to build so high was the invention of the flying buttress.This involved pulling the vertical part of the buttress away from the wall and connecting it to the building using a flying arch.If properly placed** the flyer angles more of the weight down into the ground, countering the outward force generated by the arches of the ceiling. Now obviously I didn’t know any of this as a small child, but they looked awesome and I thought that if “buttress” was a really cool word,*** then “flying buttress” sounded even cooler.Years later, learning just how they work and what they made possible only made my love of them stronger.They really are so cool.

Distracted by the pretty again.[Page from the sketchbook of Villard de Honnecourt, c. 1230, France, source: Wikimedia Commons]

*They’re still my favorite architectural element.Well, flying buttresses and ribbed vaulting are my two favorites.I never was any good at picking just one favorite. **Well, it works even if it’s placed a little too low, but it doesn’t work nearly as well. ***You can’t tell me the word “buttress” doesn’t have a really cool sound to it.Well, you can.You’ll just be wrong.